"When everybody puts (on) the gi, they're the same. You know what makes us different? The heart." - Saulo Ribeiro

Monday, February 8, 2010

Why I bought a new blue belt and why I'm not wearing it.

* Don't worry, more stuff from Brazil to come.

My blue belt and I have a complicated relationship. When you are a white belt, you want it like nothing else in the world. Don't deny it. But now that I have it, I'ma little dissatisfied with the actual piece of equipment. This is in part because I am a gear snob, and n part because I am never satisfied with anything. But now I have another reason

My belt is a Sirius A3. It never stays tied and it is a dark, dark shade of blue.

A lot of people would say you just stick with the belt your instructor gave you and that is that. I have an escape clause on this point. My instructor didn't give it to me. When I got the blue, there wasn't one handy, so Jorge just told another student to take off his. Since I cannot have Ryan McKenna's blue A2 Koral, I figure I can have whatever I want.

I never liked the dark shade of blue. In Brazil I was definitely the only one with a blue belt like that. I also had some vague idea that it wasn't 'old school,' whatever that means. Well, now I know. Royce Gracie has recently begun wearing a blue belt in tribute to his late father Helio. In this interview, Royce explains the original GJJ belt system and that there were only three belts; white, light blue and dark blue. Dark blue was designated for instructors only. Since I am clearly just a student, I wanted the light blue belt.

As it turns out, the Atama I got wasn't quite right either. It is thinner, so it stays tied. But is also a weird purply shade of blue. a couple brown belts thought it was a purple (please note, they didn't think I was a purple.) So I have retired it. R$30 down the drain.

I'm not sure I will buy another or just stick it out with the Sirius. I fell into the superstitious trap of not washing my Sirius (I actually think this is stupid and sort of gross, but haven't brought myself to washing it for some reason.) Maybe I'll try it to see if lightens up. Maybe I should lighten up.